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Unbeheld is a Death Metal band from Maple Ridge, BC, Canada, and have been compared to Gojira and Decapitated. They came into existence back in 2014 and then released their debut self titled EP, and have now released their first album.

The album starts with an intro that could have been shortened a bit, but then goes into the title track and is a piece of blistering power and fury. Riffs aplenty, growled vocals and a manic speed to get you moshing. The next song is the longest on the album and also has a touch of progressive rock to it amongst the growling vocals. There are quieter parts and faster than fast parts that make for a great listen and change of pace. “Lamentation” is their newest single and video and comes at you like a charging bull, but then, everything gets quiet and lovely, until the explosion of energy that escapes from the band and we are back to a breakneck pace again. “Destroyer” is a straight up blast of venom and anger that it knocks you off of your feet. “Vultures” keeps up the pace of the previous track and really shows off the technical abilities of this band with tight playing and killer guitar playing that would fit in on a classic metal album. The album ends off with “Nothing” which is another devastating song that will rip the skin off your face and kick you in the ass at the same time.

This is a band that if they continue on in this fashion, will be making a name for themselves and going onto bigger and better venues as they progress. They laid the foundation; let’s see them build on it.

Finnish old school death metal band with punk attitude, crushing d-beats, and punk attitude that has the feel of old school death metal, but is fresh and super tight. This is the fifth release with only three songs, this band will destroy you.

As soon as you hit play, this band comes at you at full speed and doesn’t let go until the last note fades. Bass that hangs heavy and is thick as mud, the combined growled vocals and the cleaner vocals combine to give the songs a nice feel and depth, as do the gang vocals. The drumming in pounding and unrelenting, the guitar playing is fast, but has tight licks that you can really get into. The songs are tight, rough and the whole thing is a brutal fest that you don’t want to end. Great lyrics add to this release, as does the nice production that makes everything able to be heard, nothing is buried in the mix.

This is a band that I’ve been listening to for a while now and I look forward to their releases. One brutal and tasty treat that you will want to sample over and over again.

This band is from Montreal, Quebec, and plays melodic death metal. Sadly they have broken up, but they have left this debut album for us to enjoy.

The album is full of heavy double bass drumming, thick bass, speedy riffing and guttural vocals. With the album opening and closing with static noise, the songs go very well together like a complete and whole thought. The album has song after song that just grabs you and holds you down, forcing you to pay attention. The instrumental song “3 KM Left” is an instrumental and has such delicate and beautiful piano in it, plus it does have a heavy part that makes you remember where you are and what you are listening to, a metal band that has definite skill at adding texture and depth to their sound. “Le Naufragé” is the last song and has French lyrics makes for a nice heavy ending to this album.

Finnish death metal that combines d-beat and punk attitude that feels like old school death metal, but is fresh and super tight. This is the fourth brutal release and in four songs, they will crush you.

Started off with an incredible first song, “Bedlam,” the EP gets things going with a song that goes from frenzied attack to a slow grind and just kills. “The Gallows Pole” has a nice punk / thrash feel to it that gets the head banging right away. Great guttural vocals and some screamed vocals combine to an amazing effect. “The Reckoning (Abyss pt. 2)” just continues the assault with chugging guitar playing mixed with tight leads, thick bass, and pounding drums that are fantastic. Last song “Masturbating on the Grave of Everything” is a short, fast attack that kicks up the thrash and will make the pit a fun place to be in when these guys play live.

Four songs, not one song wasted, just insanity from the get go with a bit of diversity to break things up and show the skill that these guys have, This band has not recorded a clunker yet, buy all of their releases today!

This is the debut long player from the French melodic death metal band that I previously reviewed on this blog and I can hear the growth from them. The five piece really upped the ante and played harder and with more feeling than on their debut EP.

Starting off with a very mellow instrumental called “Back to Life,” they don’t give you any clue as to the intensity that is coming on the next track. “Destroying Fate” grabs you and slams you down with the power that they put forth on this track and you just take it from them and you want more of it. Thankfully the next song “Hymn to Silent Soldiers” gives you even more to be thankful for with the incredible guitar work that will get your head banging and make you want to play the track over again. I loved that you could understand the vocals, although they are deep and guttural, they are easy to understand and enjoy, something that always improves my listening pleasure. The dual vocals really work well together, the drumming is crisp, and thundering, the bass is nice and thick and the guitar playing is simply outstanding, some of the best playing that I’ve heard in any metal, not just death metal, and the songs have a terrific amount of melody that makes them stand out from the crowd.

One of, if not my favorite melodic death metal bands ever and it’s such a treat to be able to hear them grow and expand their abilities as their career goes forward. If you are a fan of this genre or just want to hear a great metal album, you need a copy of this…get one right now!

Fronted by Karl Buechner, (EARTH CRISIS, PATH OF RESISTANCE), Syracuse, NY’s FREYA has been around for ten years. They have produced three full length albums re-imagining classic thrash, and death metal, while infusing dense melodies throughout. The new record features a guest solo on the track “Serpentine” by Paul Waggoner (BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME).

“In The Span of Seconds” has a great opening riff and hits you right away with some fast-paced double picking leading into great double-bass pounding that sets off the album to a great start. The album is a behemoth of non-stop riffs, destructive bass, gruff vocals and devastating drumming that it just demands to be played loud. The songs come at you like a steamroller, running over top of you and flattening everything in their path. There is melody on the album, like the great track “Through The Flames,” but the intensity of the album is what really sticks with you and keeps you coming back for more.

An album that just screams at your soul and wants to rip your ears off of your head and it needs to be a part of your record collection today. Play this one loud and often, make your neighbors hate you just a bit more than they already do.

Since getting together back in 2009, this Austrian death metal band has mined the theme of zombies and mined it well. You get ten brand new morbid, but humorous songs on this sophomore collection.

The added sound bites from horror movies add to the atmosphere of being in a zombie movie, add in the talking / guttural vocals and you have a creepy and evil bunch of songs. The humor in the lyrics keeps things grounded in the more fun aspect of their schitk and keeps this from being another cookie-cutter death metal album. The vocals are actually mostly intelligible which is rare for this genre and I applaud them for it, the deep bass and the pummeling drums work in tandem to give a nice groove to the tracks and the riffs and solos add a lot to the power of these songs. The songs are well done with the band giving their all and playing tightly and with passion. I really liked “The Rocking Dead”, “Cum Undone”, “Bust The Food Chain”, “E=MCarnage2”, and “All Corpses Are Bastards”.

If you want death metal that you can understand and has a sense of humor, then this is your album. If you just want the cookie monster vocals and songs about how gross the lyrics can be, please move on and find the generic crap, I’ll stick with these guys.